| GIANTKILLERS The Team and the Law that Help Whistle-blowers Recover America's Stolen Billions Henry Scammell New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2004 |
Rating: 5.0 High |
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| ISBN-13 978-0-87113-909-2 | ||||
| ISBN 0-87113-909-X | 306p. | HC | $25.00 | |
| Page 6: | "But opened it revealed his sodden pajamas, a crimson wick from shoulder to ankles." |
| Missing commas: S/B "But, opened, it revealed". |
| Page 47: | "The vista began to unfold when he discovered, in early 1974, that Rockwell was illegally juggling charges between NASA's Apollo/Soyuz Test Project and the B-1 bomber. The space shuttle contract had been awarded to Rockwell at a fixed price, while the bomber was cost-plus." |
| This betrays Scammell's poor grasp of space history. ASTP was completely separate from the space shuttle: different funding, different hardware, different booster. |
| Page 48: | "Wityczak told his group leader about orders for excessive quantities of twenty-four-karat gold polymide tape, exotic woods, and even wallpaper and carpeting." |
| Spelling: S/B "polyimide tape". |
| Page 49: | "The air force generals for whom the cabinet is charged with civilian oversight..." |
| This capitalization mistake is very common. S/B "Air Force generals". |
| Page 61: | "The cost of the additional work required by the settlement ... came to more than $1.2 billion, or more than twice as much as the original estimates for the entire project." |
| Not if the "original estimates" were $630 million, as the previous sentence apparently states. |
| Page 77: | "The first hint of a problem in the homestretch arose with the discovery of some typographical errors..." |
| Missing space: S/B "home stretch". |
| Page 135: | "Gemlike neodymium glass, meant for models of lasers for the Strategic Defense Initiative, were converted to jewelry." |
| Number error: S/B "was converted". |
| Page 168: | "That October, the National Association of Bond Lawyers, which represent municipalities on bond deals, was careful to disavow any liability on its part." |
| Number error: S/B "which represents" or "whose members represent". |
| Page 168: | "Its members 'do not possess the necessary financial and market expertise to perform these reviews and verifications,' verifications, the association told the IRS, that its clients purchased securities at fair market prices." |
| Odd sentence, probably because of punctuation error. My best guess at a fix: S/B "verifications. The association told the IRS". |
| Page 230: | "Scott took the reins of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. as president; Frist took a backseat and became vice chairman." |
| Missing space: S/B "back seat". |
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